Archaeology 101

Abigail kept her hands under Khait’s shoulders, carrying him by his armpits while Bridget got his legs. Together they lifted him onto her bed and laid him down. “Alright.” Bridget took a few deep breaths. “Alright.” She swallowed. “Alright.”

“Is it?” Abigail stared down at Khait.

“He’s breathing, so…” Bridget put her hand on his forehead as if to check his temperature. “Maybe we should call an ambulance.”

“And tell them…” Abigail sat down on the side of the bed. “What would we tell them? We don’t even…” She hung her head. “He got food poisoning from bad Italians?”

Bridget barked a laugh, then put her hands over her mouth. “Abby.”

“Yeah?” Abigail took Khait’s hand.

“I’m not sure, but uh…” She exhaled. “I think I strangled a man.”

“Either that or you beat him to death, because he didn’t move a hell of a lot while I was cutting off…” Abigail trailed off. “Bridget I cut off a man’s finger.” Her eyes widened. “Oh, god, Bridget, your hand.”

“Yeah it’s…” Bridget looked down at the blisters on her hand. “Okay, adrenaline is starting to wear off and I think I might need some ice and some vodka and some dilaudid and some prozac.” She swallowed. “Maybe not in that order.”

“I have ice and vodka.” Abigail stood.

“Okay. Let’s start with those.” Bridget started toward the kitchen.

She got halfway down the hall when a horrible thought struck her. “Bridget, do any of those guys know where you live?”

“Well they…” Bridget gave her a horrified look. “They knew who I was and tracked me down in…” Her voice became small and hopeful. “In Rome, and we aren’t in Rome right now so maybe they can’t find us here?”

“We will have some time at…” Abigail made a growling sound, then went back to her closet.

“Abbey, what are you doing?” Bridget followed.

“I am…” Abigail yanked the box off the top shelf and typed in the combination. Then she picked up the handgun and started looking it over. She caught Bridget staring, and raised an eyebrow. “Come on, sugar. You aren’t the only one whose daddy was a soldier.”

“I’ve got a 45 and a shotgun.” Bridget nodded. Then she tilted her head. “Maybe we should skip the vodka.”

He stared at the man wearing the ring, then turned toward Bridget. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.” Her eyes were tight enough that he knew she wasn’t completely honest, and when his eyes went toward her hand he noticed bruises and cuts. Bridget shook her head. “I’m sorry, Khait. I tried to —”

Lothar started laughing. “Wow.” He smirked at Khait. “She actually thinks you care.” He rolled his eyes. “Guess burying you in the desert didn’t rob you of your charm.”

“I told you, Lothar…” Khait smiled. “It’s just not going to work out.” He narrowed his eyes. “You’re not my type.” He glanced at Abigail and gave her what he hoped was a comforting smile. “This is why you shouldn’t date werewolves.” She returned the smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “They get clingy, start humping your leg, and —”

“You weren’t kidding.” The man wearing the ring rubbed his face. “He really doesn’t know how to shut up.” He shook his head. “You’ll not speak again without permission.”

Khait glared at him, but the ring’s power forced him to silence. “Leave him alone.” Abigail turned to glare at the man. Dammit. He needed some way to get her and Bridget out of here.

He lay on the sand, watching the sun set over the ocean. Abigail’s head rested on his chest. Khait curled an arm around her shoulder. She snuggled into him, the stuffed cat in her arms. It was the only one of the prizes she’d kept. The rest she’d given away to children as they explored the pier. “Did they have anything like that in ancient Egypt?”

“Surprisingly yes.” When she gave him a disbelieving look, he shrugged. “Games and the like, on market days. A few small rides. Like the spinning swings.”

“Okay. Tell me the truth.” She raised her head to rest on her hand as she stared at him. “Did aliens build the pyramids?”

“They made excellent decoys though. People focused on the big things, and never went looking for the little ones.”

“Clever.” Abigail put her head back on his shoulder. “I’m still not putting out on the first date.” Khait went still. She raised her head again. “Khait?”

“I…” He gave an embarrassed laugh. Then, in the second most out of character thing he’d done tonight, he decided to simply be honest. “I’ve been having such a good time I completely forgot to seduce you.”

“That is simultaneously the sweetest…” She leaned over to plant a light kiss on his lips. She tasted of cotton candy and beer. “And most disappointing thing a man has ever said to me.”

“So…” He raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean you’ll —” A shadow fell over them. “You are blocking our light.”

“Move.” One of the four men waved at him. “This is our spot.”

“Didn’t see your name on it.” Abigail lay her head back on Khait’s shoulder.

“We said, move.” One of the other men drew himself to his full and not inconsiderable height.

“Remember that cop at the airport?” Abigail put her hand on Khait’s stomach.

“That one…” Khait waved a hand, and a wet spot appeared on the front of the first man’s pants. The man went wide-eyed. “Or that one?” The second man suddenly leaped into the air as smoke began pouring out of his pants. He made a frantic screaming sound as he ran toward the water.

“The first one.” Abigail snuggled into him.

“Right.” Khait looked up at the now staring men and let his eyes go red and glowing. “Bugger off.”

She stood in the doorway, a cup of coffee in her hand. Khait had shifted Bridget back to Rome before returning. Then he’d more or less fallen face down on the bed and gone unconscious. Asleep, he looked peaceful and innocent. And delicious. It was tempting to pounce, but considering what he’d said last night she was worried it wasn’t safe.

Abigail exhaled, and went into the living room. She turned on her laptop and started working on her thesis notes. It was a few hours before she sensed someone else in the room, and looked up to see Khait in the doorway, watching her. He gave her an abashed sort of smile when he realized she was looking at him. “You chew your lip when you type. It is adorable.”

“Thanks.” She hesitated a moment, then set the laptop down. “We need to talk about last night.”

“Bridget summoned —”

“Okay.” She held up her hand. “We’ll talk about the you growing wings and killing people thing later, but just so we are clear…” Abigail shrugged. “Couple asshole serial killer rapist types end up fish food, I’m absolutely okay with that. Doesn’t even register on the scale of bad to me.”

“Then…” He walked into the room, and sat down on the floor in front of her. “What is it you wish to speak of?”

“Uh…” She shifted her weight a little. “I kind of beat the hell out of you a little.”

“Oh, yes…” He licked his lips. “You enjoyed that.”

“Yes. I did. But uh…” Abigail sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken it that far. It wasn’t —”

“Abigail.”

“I mean, I slapped —”

“Abigail.”

“And then I grabbed a belt and —”

“Abigail.” He raised his voice a little. When she stared at him, he started laughing. “Abigail, I am an incubus.”

“Yes. You’re into sex, I get that.” She shook her head. “But —”

“Abigail, my sweet darling…” He laughed again. “I do not think you quite do. It is not the pleasure of the body, but the pleasure of the mind. Your mind, in this specific case.”

“A lot rainier than I wanted it to be.” Bridget’s voice came back over. “I won’t be able to go sight-seeing until it clears up. I wish —” She cut herself off. “No, Khait.”

“He’s not even in here, he’s on the computer.” Abigail leaned over to look. “Binge-watching Netflix.”

“Well, at least he’s doing something normal.” Bridget continued chatting about the new job. Since she was mostly talking about the filing system, Abigail tuned it out and just said ‘uh-uh’ whenever Bridget paused. “And there is this stunning blond at the cafe I’ve been going to.”

Now that was interesting. Abigail sat up. “Getting back in the saddle now, are we?”

“Don’t be silly.” She could almost hear Bridget blushing.

“Ooh, tell me all about her.” Abigail grinned before leaning back again and putting her feet up on the arm of the couch.

“I uh…” Bridget let out an honest to god giggle. “I have a date tonight.”

Khait carried the pile of books toward the library and dumped them into the return box. Bridget had said unless she summoned him, he wasn’t to teleport anywhere. And he couldn’t have one of the two wheeled horseless transport things or a car until he had a classy diverse license. He gave another long-suffering sigh. And she’d banned him from just getting one. He had to seek out instruction and pass a test of some kind.

He cut through an alley on his way to where they’d told him to meet him, and stopped short. Professor Kravitz was backing away from a big man and an angry looking woman. “Professor.” Khait grinned as he walked over. “How are you?”

“Who…” Professor Kravitz gave him a strange look.

“Get lost.” The man narrowed his eyes at Khait.

“Unlikely. I have an excellent sense of direction.” Khait smiled. Bridget had been very clear. He wasn’t allowed to instigate any conflict. But self-defense was still allowed him. Perhaps the day would be fun after all.

“I said scram.” The man sneered.

“Professor…” Khait turned toward him. “Would you like to scram?”

“Very —” The professor’s eyes widened. “Look —”

The big man’s fist hit Khait in the side of the face, smashing into him with the force of a mule’s kick. Slowly, Khait turned back toward him. The big man blinked. “The fuck —”

“Come now…” Khait sent out a tendril of power. These two had attacked him, and he was defending the professor. He saw a slight flush rise in the cheeks of the big man. “Surely you could think of more entertaining things to do to me?”

“I…” The big man started to smile as he took a step toward Khait, and then he caught hold of Khait’s arm. “I can think of a few things.” He yanked Khait toward him and planted a hard kiss on his mouth.

“The fuck are you doing?” The big man’s companion stared.

His hand went around the back of the big man’s head and held tight as he brought his power to bear. Energy flooded into him, and he heard the big man groan in ecstasy as Khait’s nature manifested. The man gave one last thrash, then went limp. Khait released him, and he dropped lifelessly to the ground. Khait licked his lips. “Delicious…” He gave the woman a sultry smile, and saw her flush. He held out a hand to her. “Next?”

“No, not the monitor. The stuff on the monitor.” Abigail tapped the screen. “This, specifically, is Wikipedia. It’s like a massive collection of human knowledge. Or a summary of it, anyway.” She typed in a few letters, then clicked the mouse. “See, this is San Francisco, which we are very near. We’d live there, but neither of us can afford it.”

“I can —”

“Khait.” She exhaled. It was so, so tempting. But Bridget would throw a fit. “Maybe we can find some way to…”

“She is very…” Khait made a noise that sounded like a low growl.

“What are you banned from now?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Donuts.” He let out a long-suffering sigh.

“Why are you…” She caught herself. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.” She pointed at the keyboard. “Okay, you can type things into this.” She grabbed his hand and put it on the mouse. “This moves that little arrow thing, see it? You click on the blue underlined bits and they’ll take you to other pages.” She heard the door open. “Okay, that’s Bridget back with the pizza.”

“Okay…” Bridget took several deep breaths. Then she took several more. Then she got a drink of water, drank it, and took several more deep breaths. Only then did she turn to look at Khait. “Let’s set a few more ground rules.”

“Sharks.” Abigail was sitting on the couch, staring at the wall as though shell-shocked.

“I am uncertain —” Khait started shaking his head.

“One…” Bridget held up a hand to stop him from talking. “Street lights. Do not alter them in any way.”

“Yes, mistress.” He nodded.

“Two…” She took a deep breath. “When I say I wish someone would go away, it is a rhetorical statement. Do…” She exhaled. “Not teleport them anywhere. Especially not anywhere they may be endangered.”

“Even if they attempt to take liberties with your person?” Khait raised an eyebrow.

“He grabbed my ass.” She shook her head. “That’s the kind of thing you punch someone for. Teleporting them to the arctic circle is not okay.” She hesitated a moment, then sighed. “Even if it was a little bit funny.” She shook her head. “It’s still not okay.”

“I…” Khait shrugged. “Yes, mistress.”

“Three. Do not change my grades.”

“You wanted an A.”

“Bridget, don’t you think your priorities are a little —”

“I will get to it, Abigail.” Bridget sighed. “I wanted an A. But it’s my responsibility to get one. I don’t learn anything when you go in and change my grades. Don’t do it.” She glanced at Abigail. “Don’t change Abigail’s either.”

“Bitch.”

“Yes, mistress.”

“Four…” Bridget stood there a moment, trying to put the words together properly. Then she just started shaking her head. “Why the hell did you put sharks in the swimming pool? It’s a shark. Swimming pool. People swim in pools so they don’t have to worry about sharks. If they wanted to swim with sharks here is an ocean like twenty miles that way —” She pointed.

“It is that way.” Khait pointed in a different direction.

“Irrelevant! You don’t put sharks in pools!” She stared at him. “Why did you put the sharks in the pool?”

“The little girl wanted to see them. She gave me ice cream.”

“You…” Bridget blinked. “What?”

“Ice cream. It is a frozen dairy thing with sugar and —”

“I know what ice cream is!”

“Oh.” Khait nodded. “She was too small to go in the cage to see sharks, and it made her very sad. She likes sharks.”

“So you put sharks in the pool so a little girl could see them.” Bridget ran a hand down her face.

“She gave me ice cream.” Khait nodded.

“That is simultaneously one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen…” Abigail was trying not to laugh. “And the worse nightmare I’ve ever experienced.”

“No sharks in pools.” Bridget felt her own lips trying to twitch into a smile.

“Yes, mistress.”

“You know, you could have gone with smaller sharks.” Abigail leaned back. “Like nurse sharks or something. That way she could have touched them.”

She stopped in front of a column and started hitting her head against it. Behind her, Abigail had a firm grip on Khait’s arm. They’d already lost him in the airport six times. He kept wandering off to look at things, or simply stopping to stare while they continued walking. Fortunately, as they’d disembarked at a different time than the rest of their team, they’d managed to avoid him being noticed. “Alright.” She turned toward Abigail. “What do we —”

“There are more of those moving stairs.” Khait pointed, a huge grin on his face. “Can I ride them?”

“You set a TSA agent on fire!” She glared at him.

“You told me to.”

“I most certainly did not.” She frowned, then looked at Abigail who was sighing. “Did I?”

“The line was slow and you wished someone would light a fire under them.” Abigal gave a small shake of her head. “You’ve really got to eliminate the words ‘I wish’ from your vocabulary.”

“Ugh.” She pointed at Khait. “That fiasco with the baggage claim was all him.”

“She has a point there.” Abigail shrugged as she looked at Khait. “Was making things fly off the conveyor belt really necessary?”

“You seemed in a hurry. I was trying to help.” Khait gave Abigail an innocent, wide-eyed look.

“The thing with the bathrooms?” Bridget folded her arms.

“Which thing are you refere —”

“The fact that there was more than one proves my point.” She uncrossed her arms and jabbed a finger into his chest. “And the thing with the cop? Not okay.”

“What is a cop?” Khait blinked.

“The guy you made piss hims—” Abigail sighed. “The second guy you made piss himself? Law enforcement.”

“You were concerned about the professor. I was attempting to assist by creating a distraction.” Khait shrugged. “Everyone else was highly amused.”

“He’s got a point there, Bridge.” Abigail snickered. When Bridget glared, Abigail rolled her eyes. “Come on, that cop was totally being an ass.”

“I…” Bridget started to raise her hand, then sighed. “Okay, that one you are forgiven for. The rest though?” She poked Khait again. “Not okay.” She took a deep breath. “I wish you wouldn’t use magic without my permission or Abigail’s, and you may not whammy Abigail to get her permission.”

Khait started to nod, then frowned. “So, if bulls were about to trample someone, I shouldn’t —”

“Or if you are saving someone’s life, but I wish you’d be discreet about it.” She glanced at Abigail. “Better?”

“Yes.” Abigail nodded.

“What is whammy?” Khait tilted his head.

“Argh.” She started walking, then stopped in her tracks. A horrified thought had just come to her. “Abigail…”

Khait rubbed his head and looked up at his ‘mistress’. “Please stop hitting me.”

“Don’t whammy my friend.” Bridget glared at him.

“What is ‘whammy’?” Khait tilted his head.

“That thing you just did that uh…” Bridget glanced at where Abigail was adjusting her clothes. “Abby, are you okay?”

“Oh yeah.” Abigail smiled. “I’m great. Wow.” She laughed a little.

“That thing that made her like that.” Bridget pointed. She narrowed her eyes, then jabbed him with the umbrella. “What are you?”

“I am not certain how to answer that question in a meaningful way.” He spread his hands, moving away a little so she’d have a more difficult time hitting him with her chosen weapon. This was going to require a change of tactics. “I was cursed. To escape the curse, I must throw myself upon your mercy.”

“Why were you cursed?” Before he could answer, Bridget held up a hand. “And I’m ordering you to or wishing that you would or however it works. Tell me the truth.”

Oh. That was going to be a problem. Okay, so, no lying, but maybe he could leave a few parts out. Like as close to everything as possible. “I seduced a queen and caused a…” He shrugged. “Political difficulty that annoyed a dragon.”

“There is no such thing as dragons.” Bridget rolled her eyes.

“Yesterday you would have said the same about genies.” Abigail gestured at him.

“He’s not a genie.” Bridget glared at her friend, then looked back at him. “Tell the truth. What are you?”

“I…” He felt the magic of the talisman take hold and gave a frustrated sigh. Isis had really gone all in on the retribution thing. He was going to have to be careful. “I’m an incubus.”

“Whoa. Seriously?” Abigail laughed a little. “Wow, now that explains the whammy.”

“Stop talking about the whammy.” Bridget glared at her again.

“What is a whammy?” Khait exhaled.

“Like, who all does the whammy work on? I mean, clearly it doesn’t work on Bridget, but is that because she’s your boss or because she doesn’t like cock?” Abigail leaned forward.

“I…” Khait considered the question a moment, then shrugged. “Could be both.”

“Would it work on guys who like cock?” Abigail chewed her bottom lip. “Cause I’ve got some theories about Professor Montague and really could use an A in math.”

“Abigail Cross!” Bridget gave her a scandalized look.

“What?” Abigail responded with an innocent smile. “Come on, getting that man laid would do the whole student body a favor.”

This was… Where in the… Khait started looking around. Aside from the two women staring at him, he saw no one else around. He also saw a hole in the ceiling, a lot of sand, and best of all, no angry dragon-goddesses. Things were looking up, mostly. “Didst thou sayeth…?” He glanced down at himself, then shrugged. Naturally. Stark naked. Well, that should make things easy, though neither of the women before him had averted their eyes. The dark-skinned one was staring with a clearly appreciative expression, and the brown haired one looked at him as though he had tracked dog feces through her parlor. And they were both dressed… in trousers that cut off at the knees. Well, if you could call it dressed.

“Who the hell are you, and where did you come from?” The brunette’s words were strange. It took him a few moments to puzzle out what she had said.

“Khait, my lady.” He bowed. “I cometh…” He paused, and looked around. “Whither art we?” He took a step toward them, then caught a glimpse of himself in a metallic decoration set into the wall. Sure enough, he was indeed nude, but that wasn’t the part that concerned him. He glanced at himself, then looked back at the women. One of them had to have summoned him, but why… “Wherefore hath mine appearance not changeth?” If she was one of Isis’s adherents, he might be in a little trouble.

“Why the hell are you talking like that?”

Twice now she’d invoked hell. He couldn’t decide if that were good or bad. “Thy tongue is an oddity.”

“Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?” The dark-skinned woman started snickering. “Or weareth nothing at all?” Her accent was different than the other one’s. Slightly more familiar, though there was a mocking tone to her words. “Seriously, how drunk are you?”

Khait yanked at the ropes binding him to the stone table. To his surprise, they failed to give even the slightest amount. He frowned, then began struggling in earnest. The last thing he remembered was a woman pouring him wine. There were a half-dozen black-robed figures moving around the room. One of them came toward him with a knife. Khait blinked as the figure began cutting off his clothing. Then he smirked. “Ah, it’s going to be like that, is it?” He licked his lips. “You know, if you wanted to pl…” He cut off as a woman came through the door. “Oh.”

“Tighten the restraints. He needs to be still.” She waved a hand at one of the robed figures.

He grunted as the figure obeyed. “Isis, look, I’m certain this is…” His eyes widened as she drew a knife of her own, and cut open his arm. “Isis, you and I go back a long way, and…” She touched her finger to the blood, then began using it to draw a glyph on his chest. “Isis. Isis.” He started shaking his head. “This isn’t…”

“You…” Her eyes gleamed with an unnatural light. “Were warned.”

What he hoped was a charming smile came to his face. “Look, I get that you are angry, but why don’t we just —”

“Your antics have jeopardized us all.” She shook her head.

“I…” He winced as she worked the blade again to draw more blood. Though he knew it would do him little good, he tried to summon up his magic anyway. He felt as though he were trying to get purchase on ice. “Isis, you don’t want to do this. You want to just eat me and go one with —”

“Eating you…” Isis rolled her eyes. “Would do me little good.”

“Little good? You’d get a good meal, I’d be out of your hair, you win.” He tried struggling again, but the restraints prevented him from moving. They pulled at his joints, straining them until just breathing was painful. “Isis —”

“I’m well aware killing you is not an option.” She leaned down until her lips were near his ear. “Usariel.”

Not good. Painful or not, he started thrashing. He even managed to nearly pull his arm free before it was yanked down and secured again. He opened his mouth. “Isi—” Metal was forced between his teeth, both gagging him and holding his head in place.

Isis stood. Her eyes had left the masquerade of humanity behind, and glowed with green fire. She set a gemstone on his forehead. Power seemed to wrap around him, and then it started to tear.